The Library Trip

Short Story

His Point of View 

I sent my love a good morning text once I woke up around 10 but she hasn’t responded. Having seen her Instagram post about going to study, I bet she's probably on campus in the library with her phone on silent. I haven’t seen her since I left for my trip, so I’m excited to hang out and catch up. 

I enter the library, scanning for where she may be. I don’t go to the library so I don’t know my way around that well. Assuming she will be by herself I head to the second floor where the quiet area is indicated to be. I walk around looking for her but she is nowhere to be found. Maybe she finally listened to me and is studying with a tutor so I go back to the main area and take a broader look around. 

Finally my eyes land on her, my sweet love is sitting with someone. As I get closer I recognize them as a friend who I thought I told her I didn’t like, but that isn’t the problem at the moment. She is talking and seems to be going over school work. She is making her thinking face, eyebrows furrowed up and eyes squinted as she reads from a textbook. I have missed my love. Whenever she would make that face I would always take the textbook away to try and bring her smile back. She must’ve found what she was searching for, immediately typing it out on her laptop and high-fiving her friend.

She looks up in my direction and her face lights up, eyes sparkling from the sunlight streaming in from the window– smile so bright. I missed this smile being thrown in my direction. Before I had to leave she was so stressed about work and school that I hadn't seen this look in a very long time.

 I was about to wave when she called out, “Jack!” 

Jack? Who the hell is Jack? Had she isolated herself so much when I left that she forgot me? Out of the corner of my eye I noticed another guy smiling right back at her and walking towards her. Who is this guy smiling at my love? 

“Hey baby,” he says, hugging and kissing her. I am astonished at what I’m seeing here- I leave for a trip and this is what she does? Whenever she goes to the library is this who she meets up with? I find an empty table that allows me to have them in view, and pull out my laptop and act like I’m working. He sits down next to her chatting with her and her friend for a bit, he then also pulls out a book. My love goes right back to work with her friend as he just sits there silently while she does her work. He is not even paying attention to her. This is who she seriously decided to spend time with while I was away, someone who won’t even talk to her. I sit there for a while watching them- there will be some moments where he rubs her back lightly, never really commenting as they work. I catch Jack glancing my way occasionally so I go to look at social media on my phone to distract myself a bit. When I glance up he has left his seat, but his stuff is still sitting on the table. This is my chance to confront her without the stranger around to get in my way. As I start to get up I feel a hand on my shoulder pushing me back down to my seat. 

“Don’t you dare go over there,” a voice from the side of me growls, I look up and there is the mysterious Jack. He sits down across from me at this table with a glare on his despicable face. The audacity this guy has, not only calling the love of my life 'baby', kissing her, now he is sitting across from me and preventing me from going over to her. 

The Love’s View 

“Seriously, it seems like you two are so good for each other,” my friend giggled and I couldn’t help but smile and feel my cheeks flush with heat. 

“Right? It’s been going so well, he makes me really happy and just being around him is great. He’s so understanding.” I respond while setting down my textbook again. We are totally off topic now that Jack has left the table, we couldn’t help but gossip a bit in his absence. That is when raised voices caught my attention from somewhere in the library.

  “Who do you think you are?” I looked over startled, and saw HIM. My heart drops. I thought he was still on his so-called trip. 

“Oh my god.” I whisper.

“Oh goodness, isn't that..?” my friend trailed off while I nodded my head. Then my eyes landed on Jack who was sitting across from him. I quickly stood and urgently sped over to Jack whose eyes were locked on to him. There was so much anger in them, I don’t think I have ever seen Jack this angry before. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” I question placing my hand on Jack's shoulder, not daring to look away from him. He finally looks at me, eyes instantly softening when they land on my face. 

“This prick wouldn’t stop staring at you, I was trying to see what his problem is.” Jack explains turning back to- him. My eyes finally trail over, and he looks so outraged as to what is happening here.

“Meet me outside, " I sighed at him then I turned back to Jack, “I’ll handle this.”

“Seriously?” Jace raises his voice even more. 

“We are adults, step outside right now, please,” I whisper to which he scoffs, while grabbing his stuff and stomping outside. Before I follow him out, Jack takes my hand.

“I don’t want you to be alone with him,” He says, giving my hand a little squeeze with concern in his voice. 

“I’m just going to see what his problem is and tell him to leave us alone. Nothing is going to happen, I promise.” My voice pleaded with him to understand.

“No, I’m worried about how he is acting. I don’t trust HIM, I’m gonna watch from the door inside okay?” Jack stated while standing up. Jack respects me so much more than I have ever been given before. I nod in response and he pulls me into a hug and kisses my forehead in comfort. “Nothing like that crossed my mind, I just want you to be safe.” 

I walk outside and glance back to see Jack watching from the window by the door. Then I turn to see Jace leaning against a wall hitting his vape pen, the smoke hitting my face- another thing I haven’t missed while he was away. 

“Care to explain what that whole show was in there?” I start boldly.

“Whole show? Show! How about we talk about that GUY calling you baby, kissing you and being all over you in there. Talk about a fucking show!” Jace shakes his head, throwing his arms in the air and causing passersby to glance in our direction.

“First off, he gave a quick kiss and barely touched me while I was studying, which he is allowed to do because he is my boyfriend.” I fold my arms, standing my ground knowing I wasn’t alone if something were to go wrong. 

“Wow! You are just gonna admit that he is your boyfriend? Did you just forget everything we have? I went on a trip and you just forget that I existed?”

“No, I can’t forget what we had.”

“Then why are you kissing another guy?”

“Because you left me a long time ago.” 

“When I left you said we can see what the future holds.” I cannot believe the words coming out of this man’s mouth, no, this boy’s mouth!

“Did you think I would be waiting this whole time for you?-- For over a year mind you. Barely hearing anything from you unless I reached out first? Did you wait for me then? You weren’t with anyone during this whole so-called trip of yours?”

“Well I-” he started but I cut him off.

“That’s what I thought. Well, I did wait! I was so focused on how to bring you back home, back to ME. I thought if I worked on myself more, made myself better, you would fall in love with me again. I noticed how you looked or talked about other women, so I wasted time trying to become someone I’m not. Then I realized that still wasn’t bringing you back, and I stopped putting effort into what I thought YOU wanted. I focused on my school work for once, because clearly you never let me do that, and I reconnected with friends you tried so hard to keep me away from. THEY helped me find my way back to me. This future that you were waiting on after you were done partying, expecting me to be in the kitchen with dinner on the table for you to come home to, doesn’t exist anymore!” I am almost yelling at him with how much emotion is welling up in my throat. I still had so much anger left in me for him, so much I wanted to say to him. He was stunned to silence, his mouth slightly open with words unable to come out. “So no, I will never forget what we HAD, because it was left in the past when you left me to find yourself instead of staying with me. Now if you excuse me I need to finish studying for midterms, please do not disturb me again,” I start turning to walk away.

“Wait,” He calls, “Does he make you happy?” Seriously after that whole speech he is still focused on someone else and not me.

“I make myself happy. Unlike you,” I said smiling, “also unlike you he can make me cum.”